Bridge plug



T. M. RAGAN March 10, 1953 BRIDGE PLUG Filed Sept. 25, 1946 I IN VEN TOR. Thomas M 09m Patented Mar. 10, 1953 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BRIDGE PLUG Thomas M. Ragan, Downey, Calif., assignor to Baker Oil Tools, 1110., Vernon, Calif., a corporation of California 13 Claims. 1

This invention relates to well packers of the type adapted to form a bridge or barrier in well casings and similar conduits.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a well packer having a back-pressure valve device arranged to facilitate lowering of the packer through fluid in the well, the valve device being automatically brought into functional operation or position to prevent fluid flow through the packer contemporaneously with the setting and anchoring of the packer against the wall of a well casing or similar conduit.

This invention has other objects which will become apparent upon a consideration of the embodiment shown in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the present specification. This form will now be described in detail to illustrate the general principles of the invention, but it is to be understood that such detailed description is not to be taken in a limited sense, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the claims appended hereto.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through one form of well packer embodying the invention, with its parts in position for lowering through the fluid in a well casing.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the well packer anchored to the casing.

Figure 3 is a cross-section taken along the line 3-3 on Figure 1.

As disclosed in the drawings, a bridge plug A is lowered through a well casing B on a suitable running-in string, such as a wire line C. The lower end of the line is secured to a sinker bar Iil threaded into the upper sub portion ll of the setting tool, which is suitably secured, as by welding, to the body [2 of the setting tool.

The lower end of the setting tool body l2 fits within the upper portion of a tubular plug body [3, to which it is suitably attached by one or more shear screws M. The body I3 has a flange abutment l5 at its bottom end and a generally frusto-conical expander l6 slidably mounted on its exterior, the outer surface I! of the expander tapering downwardly and inwardly for slidable engagement with companion tapered surfaces It interiorly of a plurality of segmental slips [9 whose lower ends abut or are adjacent the body flange l5. lhe slips are held initially in retracted position by a plurality of shear screws 20 securing them to the conical expander IS.

A packing 2| of generally cup shape is attached to the, expander IS with its base portion 22 clamped between the expander and the upper enlarged portion of a sleeve 23 threaded in the expander and slidably mounted on the exterior of the body 53. Leakage in a downward direction between the body I3 and easing B is prevented by engagement of the upper lip portion 24 of the cup packing with the wall of the well casing, and by aside seal 25 within a ring groove 26 in the sleeve 23 slidably engaging the exterior of the packer body IS.

A sleeve actuator 2'! is held initially in a relativ upward position within the body It. Leakage therebetween is prevented by a suitable side seal 28 positioned within a groove 29 in the ex terior of the sleeve and engaging the inner wall of the body. This sleeve 27 has a transverse actuator pin 36 secured to it, extending in opposite directions through longitudinal slots 3| in the body for reception within radial holes 32 in the conical expander 16. In efiect, the actuator pin 36 serves as a solid connection between the actuator sleeve 21 and the frusto-conical expander iii.

A tapered seat 33 is formed in the upper portion of the sleeve actuator for engagement by a trip ball 34, which may be contained within the body l3 during lowering of the tool in the well casing. A look is also provided to prevent downward movement of the body [3 with respect to the expander l6 and slips l9. Specifically, such lock may take the form of a split lock ring 35 having interior wickers 36 and an exterior downwardly and inwardly converging surface 31 received within a companion groove 38 in the sleeve 23, whose base 39 has a downward and inward convergent surface. Any downward movement tendency of the plug body l3, even to a slight extent, with respect to the sleeve 23 attached to the expander l6 wedges the lock ring 3'5 within the tapered groove 38 and urges it firmly against the exterior of the body, thus anchoring the body it and sleeve 23 together and preventing downward movement of the former with respect to the latter, although the body may move upwardly relative to the external sleeve.

The sleeve actuator 2'? is also provided with a lower valve seat Ml adapted to be engaged by a back-pressure ball valve member 4! movable in an upward direction into engagement with the seat to prevent upward flow of fluid through the packer device. This ball valve member 4| is held initially in a lower position spaced from its cooperable seat to by a retaining device, which, as shown in the drawings, takes the form of a flexible wire 42 extending through an axial hole 43 in the actuator pin 30, with its upper end suitably secured to the ball 41 and its lower end suitably attached to atransverse ball retaining pin is fixed to the flange portion id of the body. A longitudinal slot is provided in the lower portion of the sleeve actuator 21 in alignment with the pin A l to permit passage of the latter therewithin.

The tool is lowered in the well bore on the end of the running-in string C, with the lip 24 of the packing cup engaging the wall of the casing B, and with the shear screws 28 in place to hold the parts in their initial relative position. The slips I9 are retracted inwardly from engagement with the casing, the actuator sleeve 27 and expander [6 are in an upward position along the body l3, and the retaining device 52, ts holds the back pressure ball M from engagement with its seat 50. During lowering of the tool, any fluid that might be present in the well casing can by-pass around and upwardly through the actuator sleeve 2'1, flowing around the back pressure ball 51, which is being restrained from engaging its seat 49, disengaging and elevating the trip ball 3 from its cooperable seat 33, flowing around this trip ball, through the upper end of the body 13, and into the setting tool body 12, from where it passes outwardly through the slots it in the wall of the setting tool to a point above the plug.

When the location in the casing is reached at which the plug is to be set, downward movement of the running-in string C is arrested, allowing the trip ball 54 to engage its sleeve seat. As explained in my application for Well Plug and Method of Setting the Same, Ser. No. 507,980, filed Jul 31, 1945, now Patent No. 2,507,270, if the fluid level in the casing is high enough to provide a sufficient hydrostatic head, the running-in string need only be elevated a short distance, the hydrostatic head of fiuid on top of the plug exerting a suflioient downward force on the packing cup 21 and ball closed sleeve actuator 27 to shear the slip screws 20, shifting the conical expander H5 in a relative downward direction along the body l3 and within the slips Hi to cause radial outward expansion of the latter into engagement with the casing B. Such action can occur since the fluid is prevented from moving down past the bridge plug by engagement of the lip 2A of the cup with the casing and the side seal 25 with the body 13, and also because of the engagement of the trip ball 34 with the sleeve seat 33 and the prevention of leakage between the sleeve 2? an inner wall of the bod 13 by the side seal 28. It is to be noted that the hydrostatic head of fluid is acting downwardly over substantially the entire internal area of the well casing to set the slips i9, since it is acting over the internal area of the body is and across the annular area between the body I3 and the Well casing B. The downward setting force of the hydrostatic head of fluid on the trip ball 3d and sleeve actuator 21 is transmitted to the expander Hi through the transverse actuator pin 30, this pin being shifted downwardly along the longitudinal body slots 3! during the setting operation.

During the downward movement of the actuator sleeve 2'l' with respect to the body is, its lower sleeve seat 50 has also moved downwardly into engagement with the lower back pressure ball valve member M. The initial spacing between the back pressure ball 4| and seat at, as determined by the taut length of the wire G2, is less than the distance that the sleeve 2'; moves downwardly to fully engag the slips is against the casing. Such downward movement of the sleeve actuator moves its seat 49 into engagement with the ball valve member ll and then moves the latter member with it downwardly to a slight extent, placing a certain amount of slack in the tie wire Q2, which enables the back pressure ball ii to be unrestrained and capable of functioning freely. The relative downward movement of the sleeve actuator 2! with respect to the ball valve member M is permitted by passage of the transverse ball retaining pin at into the longitudinal sleeve slot 45.

It will, therefore, be seen that the ball valve member 5! is held in ineffective position during lowering of the plug through the fluid in the well casing, permitting the well fluid to by-pass upwardly through the central passage 5% of the well packer body in the manner described above. However, the back pressure ball valve member ll is brought into operative position contemporaneously with anchoring of the slips S9 to the well casing, in view of the relative downward movement of its cooperable seat ia) into engagement with the ball valve member l. As a result of such engagement between the seat and ball, fluid is prevented from passing upwardly through the well packer. Similarly, fluid is prevented from passing in a downward direction through the well packer by engagement of the trip ball 36 with its upper cooperable seat 33. Thus, a well packer arrangement is provided in which fluids are prevented from passing in both directions through its central passage 46.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A well tool for lowering in a well bore, including a body having a passage, a valve member movable in said body passage and through which fluid can pass, a ccoperable valve member movable with respect to said body into engagement with said valve member to close said body passage, means for initially preventing such engagement during lowering of the, tool in the well bore comprising instrumentalities attached, to, said body and one of said members, means for moving said first-mentioned valve member longitudinally relative to said body into engagement with said cooper-able valve member to close said passage, and means initially preventing longitudinal movement of said first-mentioned valve member relative to said body into engagement with said cooperable valve member.

2. A well tool, including a body having a passage through which fluid may pass during lowering of said tool in a well casing, an annular valve seat slidably mounted in said, body passage, a valve member movable upwardly relative to said body into engagement with said seat to close said passage, means for initially preventing such upward engagement of said valve member with said seat comprising instrumentalities attached to said body and engageable with said valve member, means for efiecting relative downward. movement of said valve seat within said body into engagement with said valve member to close. said passage, and means initially preventing such downward movement of said valve seat.

3. A well tool, including a body having a passage through which fluid may pass during lowering of said tool in a well casing, a valve member in said body passage and through which fluid can pass, a cooperable valve member adapted to engage said valve member and close said passage, means for initially preventing engagement between said valve members comprising instrumentalities' engageable' with said cog operable valve member, normally retracted means around said body, and means for contemporaneously shifting said first-mentioned valve member into engagement with said cooperable valve member to close said passage and expanding said normally retracted means outwardly against said casing.

4. A well tool, including a body having a passage through which fluid may pass during lowering Of said tool in a well casing, a valve member in said body passage and through which fluid can pass, a cooperable valve member adapted to engage said valve member and close said passage, means for initially preventing such engagement between said valve members comprising instrumentalities engageable with one of said valve members, normally retracted slips around said body, expander means on said body cooperable with said slips for expanding said slips outwardly and means for efiecting simultaneous shifting of said first-mentioned valve member and expander means relative to said body to engage said valve members with each other to close said passage and expand said slips into engagement with said casing.

5. A well tool, including a body having a passage through which fluid may pass during lowering of said tool in a well casing, an annular valve member movable within said body passage, a cooperable valve member movable within said passage, means for initially preventing engagement between said valve members comprising instrumentalities engageable with one of said members, normally retracted slips around said body, expander means around said body and positioned within said slips, and means for connecting said expander means and one of said valve members for conjoint movement with respect to said body to expand said slips into engagement with said casing and to engage said valve members with each other to close said passage.

6. A well tool, including a body having a pas sage through which fluid may pass during lowering of said tool in a well casing, an annular valve seat slidably mounted in said body passage, a valve member engageable with said seat to close said passage, means for initially preventing engagement of said member with said seat comprising instrumentalities securing said valve member to said body, normally retracted slips around said body, an expander slidable on said body and disposed within said slips, and means connecting said valve seat and expander for conjoint slidable movement with respect to said body to expand said slips into engagement with said casing and to engage said valve member with said valve seat to close said passage.

'7. A well tool, including a body having a passage through which fluid may pass during lowering of said tool in a Well casing, an annular valve member movable within said body passage, a cooperable valve member movable within said passage, means for initially preventing engagement between said valve members comprising instrumentalities engageable with one of said members, normally retracted means around said body, means around said body for expanding said normally retracted means into engagement with said well casing, and means for connecting said expanding means and one of said valve mem bers for conjoint movement with respect to said body to expand said retracted means against said casing and to engage said valve members with each other to close said passage.

8. A well tool, including a body having a passage through which fiuid may pass during lowering of said tool in a well casing, an annular valve seat slidably mounted in said body passage, a valve member engageable with said seat to close said passage, means for initially preventing engagement of said member with said seat comprising instrumentalities securing said valve member to said body, normally retractedmeans around said body, means slidable on said body for expanding said normally retracted means into engagement with said casing, and means connecting said valve seat and expanding means for conjoint slidable movement with respect to said body to expand said retracted means against said casing and to engage said valve member with said valve seat to close said passage.

9. A well tool, including a body having a passage through which fluid may pass during lowering of said tool in a well conduit, an annular valve seat slidably mounted in said body passage, a valve member below said seat and engageable therewith to close said passage, means for initially preventing engagement of said member with said seat comprising instrumentalities securing said valve member to said body, normally retracted slips around said body, an expander slidable on said body within said slips, and means connecting said valve seat and expander for conjoint slidable downward movement relative to said body to expand said slips against said conduit and to engage said valve member with said valve seat to close said passage.

10. A well tool, including a body having a passage through which fluid may pass during lowering of said tool in a well conduit, an annular valve seat slidably mounted in said body passage, a valve member below said seat and engageable therewith to close said passage, means for initially holding said member below and out of engagement with said seat comprising instrumentalities securing said valve member to said body, normally retracted slips around said body,

- an expander slidable along said body within said slips, means interconnecting said valve seat and expander, and means engaging said seat to prevent downward flow of fluid therethrough for enabling said valve seat and expander to be moved downward relative to said body to expand said slips against said conduit and to engage said seat with said valve member to close said passage.

11. A well tool for lowering in a well bore, including a body having a passage, a valve member movable in said body passage and through which fluid can pass, a cooperable valve member movable with respect to said body into engagement with said valve member to close said body passage, means for initially preventing such engagement during lowering of the tool in the well bore comprising instrumentalities attached to said body and one of said members, hydraulically operable means for moving said first-mentioned valve member longitudinally relative to said body into engagement with said cooperable valve member to close said passage, and means initially preventing longitudinal movement of said first-mentioned valve member relative to said body into engagement with said cooperable valve member.

12. A Well tool, including a body having a passage through which fluid may pass during lowermg of said tool in a well casing, an annular valve memberin said body passage, said valve member having a passage therethrough, a cooperable valve member movable with respect to said body into engagement with said valve member to close said body passage, means for initially preventing such engagement comprising instrumen talities engageablewith one of saidvalve: members, means engageablewith said annular valve member toclose its passage and enable downward hydraulic movement of said annular memberrelative to said body intoengagement with said cooperable valve member to close said body passage, and means. initially preventing such downward movement of said annular valve member.

13. A well tool, including a body having a passage through which fluid may pass during lowering of said tool in a well conduit, an annular valve seat slidably mounted in said body passage, a valve member below said seat. and engageable therewith: to cl'ose said passage, means for holding said member below and out of en'- gagement with: said seat, and means engaging said seat to prevent downward fio'w' of fluid therethroughfor enabling said valve seat to be moved hydraulically in a. downward direction rel'-= ative to said body toengage said seat with said valve member to close said passage.

THOMAS M. RAGAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,893,934 Durward Jan. 10', 1933 2,083,714. Keeler June 15,, 1937 2,086,935 Cox July 13, 1937 2,1.8'7'A'B1 Baker et al. July 16, 1940 2,118? A82- Baker et; aI. July 16, 1940 2,249,172 Quintrell July 15, I941 

